Obama Jobs Bill With Millionaires Surtax Flops In The Senate

Weeks after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) declared it
dead in the lower chamber, on Tuesday evening the Senate failed
reach the 60 votes needed to allow debate on the bill.

The widely-expected vote is the first in a series Democrats plan
on holding on the bill for the purposes of political theater, as
Obama and congressional leaders work to find portions of the bill
they can agree on and pass.

Obama has called on Congress to "pass this bill" ad nauseum, but
his appeals to constituents and the press could not get the
Senate to vote for a plan he claimed should be supported by
majorities in both parties.

Seeking to gain a greater share of Democratic votes, Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid amended Obama's plan to include a $453
billion surtax on those with incomes greater than $1 million a
year, but even that wasn't enough.

Over half of the bill's $447 billion price tag comes from an
extension and expansion of the payroll tax cut expiring at the
end of the year, that Obama said could cost the economy up to 1
million jobs if not passed.

Obama has also pledged to prioritize infrastructure spending,
with some Senate Democrats working with Republicans to pair an
infrastructure bank with a tax repatriation holiday for
businesses.

"I don't know how Congress will respond to the overall package,
but our expectation is, is if they don't pass the whole package
we're going to break it up into constituent parts," he told his
jobs council Tuesday. "And having the relevant businesses get
behind a effort to move this infrastructure agenda forward is a
priority."